Item List

The Carnegie Institute, as it was originally known, houses the Carnegie Museums of Natural History/Art, Carnegie Music Hall and Carnegie Library. Gifted to Pittsburgh by Andrew Carnegie, it was completed in 1895 and expanded in 1907. The section of the West wall you see in this spot that is darker than the rest of the building was intentionally left dirty when the structure underwent its first cleaning in 100 years in 1989-1990. (Photo taken in 1937 via the Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection at the University of Pittsburgh. See map for more photos, newspaper clippings)

The stone supports you see here are from the Penn Incline, also known as the 17th Street Incline, which ran from 17th Street in the Strip District up to what was known as Ridge Avenue in the Hill District. The incline, designed by Hungarian immigrant Samuel Diescher, opened for passengers on February 29, 1884 (leap year) on a track 849 feet long with a 22 degree slope. It ceased operation in 1953. These supports lie on the hillside below Arcena Street, as shown on the map, but the best way to see them is from 17th Street in the Strip, looking up the hill. You want to stand approximately here : 40.44925220452099, -79.9855822982681 (Photo 1 a section of a larger photo by John R. Shrader via Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs, Senator John Heinz History Center. Three additional photos can be found in the map.)

When Pittsburgh was identified as a likely target of nuclear attack during the Cold War, an array of air defense sites were hastily built by the United States military in order to protect the city. A ring of 8 sites were built, housing anti-aircraft guns as well as NIKE missiles. At this spot, accessible via trail, you'll find the remains of one such site, the PI-71, as it was known to the military. It was built and operational in 1955 and decommissioned in 1974. Nike Road, that leads to the trail to the launch site, was named after the missiles housed on the base. Images are screen-caps from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqjmcp0POA&ab_channel=64mung

Look where Allegheny River Blvd. meets Lock Way E at this intersection to find the eagle-adorned cast-iron ornamental pedestals that once decorated the Murray Avenue Bridge handrails. The bridge, constructed 1913-1914, carried Murray Avenue over Beechwood Boulevard between Squirrel Hill and Greenfield until it was replaced by the current Murray Avenue Bridge in 1978. The original location of these pedestals would have been roughly here: https://www.google.com/maps?q=40.42687356981073,+-79.92701013628421 (photo via the Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection at the University of Pittsburgh)

Called a "roller coaster on water," the Log Jammer was one of Kennywood's most popular rides. Launching in May 1975, the 3 and a half minute trip took riders along a 1,600 foot waterway before sending them down two drops, the larger of which was 53 feet. Pumps moved 11,250 gallon of water per minute to move the logs. The ride was discontinued in 2017 to make room for the new Steelers-themed area of the park. (Photo via the Kennywood Park records at the Detre Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center)

The duplex residential home you see here at the corner of Federal and Henderson once served as the lower station house of the Nunnery Hill Incline that ran from this point up to Nunnery Hill, known today as Fineview. Construction began in the spring of 1887 with the first passengers carried on June 23, 1888. At its peak, it carried over 9,000 riders per month. It was a curved, double-track railway built using trestles and stone walls. It rose 250 feet over a distance of 1,100 feet approximately. Each car seated approximately 20 people and a one-way trip took 2 minutes and 45 seconds on average. It was no longer in use by September of 1895. (Illustration via the July 5, 1888 edition of the Post-Gazette, showing the station house as it appeared upon completion)

This redoubt (a small structure serving as a fort's first line of defense by allowing soldiers to fire weapons from small openings while remaining protected by the brick structure) from Fort Pitt, was built in 1764 as part of the British defenses of the land at the forks during the French and Indian War. When no longer used as a part of the fort, the redoubt became home to several families over the space of decades, and according to author Emily Weaver, it was also a candy shop at one point. The Daughters of the American Revolution in Pittsburgh took on powerful men and railroads to save the Block House from destruction and turned it into the historic treasure it remains today. Photo 3 was taken prior to 1893 via "Art Work of Pittsburg pt. 11" via the University of Pittsburgh Historic Book Collection.

The gate here once served as the entrance to banker Richard Beatty Mellon's grand 65-room estate that stood on the crest of the hill of what is now Mellon Park. R. B. Mellon, the brother of Andrew Mellon, died in December 1933 (the photo, a scan from a Pittsburgh history book, shows the public gathered at the gate to greet the funeral procession). Modeled after early Tudor architecture and designed by the famed Alden and Harlow, construction on the home began in September 1909 and completed in 1911 using Portage entry sandstone. In 1940, when the city would not waive $19,000 in taxes, the family decided to raze the house rather than have it sit idle. Many of the decorative interior items were sold to the public. The family offered the land to the city as a park in 1942.

Look low near the ground on the wall around this point on One Doughboy Square (Desmone Architects building) for a visible piece of Three Rivers Stadium. The remnant, owned by a partner of the firm, was included in the building's construction. Three Rivers Stadium was the shared home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970 to 2000. The stadium held between 47,942 (baseball) and 59,000 (football) seats and hosted the first World Series game played at night. It was demolished via controlled explosions in February of 2001. It was the site of some of Pittsburgh sports' most cherished memories, such as Roberto Clemente's final and 3,000th hit before his death in 1972, or Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" on December 23, 1972.

The statue you see in the parking lot along the St. Maximilian Kolbe Church once stood atop the tower of the now shuttered St. Michael the Archangel Church in Munhall. The statue depicts St. Joseph the Worker and according to church literature, was meant to serve as a "memorial to the working man" in Pittsburgh, "the center of the great steel industry of the nation." The statue was commissioned by the church in 1964 and is the work of famed Pittsburgh sculptor Frank Vittor. After its design was executed in the Bruni Foundry in Rome, Italy in 1965, it was blessed by Pope Paul VI on December 19 at the Vatican. It was finally placed atop the bell tower in March of 1966. The church merged with the in 1992 and the statue was removed in 2010.

Once so etched into the memory of Pittsburgh that it was commemorated each year with a clanging of 1-8-4-5 on the old City Hall bell (now found in the lobby of the Senator John Heinz History Center), today, most Pittsburghers walk past the stone tablet you see in the wall here without noticing it. The Great Fire of 1845 burned over 1,000 structures in downtown Pittsburgh, killed two residents, left thousands without homes or businesses, and helped push Pittsburgh more quickly toward its industrial future. This stone tablet was likely commissioned by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania after 1925 but before 1936. The exact origin of the fire is still uncertain, but the impact is not. (The photo is a lithograph from a painting created at the spot two days after the fire via Library of Congress. Inside the map, you will find a photo of a map from 1845 showing the burnt district.)

While the grotto you see at this location is a reproduction of the towering Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, the cornerstone came from the historic St. Nicholas Croatian Roman Catholic Church that stood on this spot. St. Nicholas was considered one of the first Croatian parishes in the United States when it was formed in 1894 before splitting in two due to growing numbers. The St. Nicholas Church that once stood here was opened in 1904 and was moved 20 feet back and 8 feet up from its original location in 1921. The final mass was held in 2004 when the building was deemed unsafe. After a lengthy battle by preservationists to save it, the church was demolished in 2013 to make way for Route 28 upgrades. Foundation remains are also visible in the hillside. (Photo by Mike Wintermantel via hmdb.org)

You're looking up at the one-time largest clock in the world. Depending on your generation, you might know this as the Duke clock, the Duquesne Clock, the Fort Pitt Clock, the AT&T Clock or any number of other companies that have used the clock face for advertising. Originally though, it was mounted on the hillside of Mt. Washington back in the early 1930s as part of a huge billboard before being moved in 1961. The clock face is 60 feet in diameter. According to famed Pittsburgh reporter Charles Danver's reporting in 1962, the clock's hour hand is 25 feet long and weighs 1,365 pounds while the minute hand comes in at 35 feet and weighs 2,000 pounds. Its original location would be roughly here: https://www.google.com/maps?q=40.4311122,+-80.00304067 (Photo 1 from Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs, 1892-1981 at the Senator John Heinz History Center; photos 2 and 3 from Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company Photographs, 1886-1972 at the University of Pittsburgh)

The columns you see along the side of Pittsburgh Public Schools Obama Academy 6-12 were salvaged from the old Peabody High School that once stood here. Peabody High School, founded in 1911 as part of a grammar school, was named for East Liberty physician Benjamin Peabody. The statue is the Peabody Memorial to Soldiers and Sailors which was paid for by Peabody students and alumni in 1924. It was created by famed sculptor Frank Vittor and includes the names of Peabody students that have died in war, or who served in war. It was once a flagpole base, but the flagpole has been missing since the mid-1940s. (Image from the Pittsburgh Public Schools Photographs, 1880-1982 in the Detre Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center)

This is the former site of the Westinghouse Research Facility. This atom smasher was built by Westinghouse Electric in 1937, one year before the discovery of nuclear fission. Writer Marni Blake Walter calls it, "a pioneering laboratory for one of the first large-scale nuclear physics research programs." The machine was essentially an atomic accelerator, meant to move subatomic particles at a high rate of speed -- 50 million miles per hour! It was permanently shut down in 1958. (Photo via the Allegheny Conference on Community Development photo collection in the Detre Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center)

This photo shows these trolley tracks in 1932. The photographer whose shadow you see is Brady Stewart, the longtime city photographer. Within the map, you'll find a second photo from Google Maps Street View which will help you orient yourself within the historical photo. While the last official trolley ride was in 1985, they became less popular after WWII and had mostly fallen out of usage by the 1960s. This specific set of tracks were largely used for the Spring Hill and Spring Garden routes which were discontinued in 1957. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County maintains an extensive collective of trolleys from Pittsburgh's past. Photo via the Pittsburgh City Photographer collection at the University of Pittsburgh

This is the anchor of the USS Pittsburgh III (CA-72) which was put into service in 1944. She saw action during WWII, particularly during the Battle of Iwo Jima where she rescued dozens of overboard men from the damaged USS Franklin after a Japanese strike. The second photo shows, according to the Navy, "Lifting the starboard anchor from the cruiser's detached and capsized bow, during salvage operations at Guam, circa June 1945. The bow had broken away from the ship in a typhoon on 5 June." She was decommissioned in 1956 and scrapped in 1974. Her bell is in the Soldiers & Sailors Museum in Oakland. (Photos via the Naval History and Heritage Command) 

The Manchester Bridge replaced the old Union Bridge as Pittsburgh's connection to the North Side. Opened in 1915, its notable relief sculptures and medallions were salvaged before it was demolished in 1970 when the Fort Duquesne Bridge became the new North Side connector. This image is a zoomed in section of another on the map, to better allow you to see the medallion on the portal. (Image by Charles W. Shane, April 1970, via Library of Congress)

The Manchester Bridge replaced the old Union Bridge as Pittsburgh's connection to the North Side. Opened in 1915, its notable relief sculptures and medallions were salvaged before it was demolished in 1970 when the Fort Duquesne Bridge became the new North Side connector. This image is a zoomed in section of one in the map to better allow you to see the medallion on the portal. (Image by Charles W. Shane, April 1970, via Library of Congress)

Along the back wall of the Children's Museum's adjacent parking lot you will see several large granite keystones depicting what are meant to be faces of the races of the world. These stones were salvaged from the Old Post Office that stood at Smithfield and Fourth Avenue downtown from 1892-1966. Also salvaged from this building were the Ladies of Stone statues (also contained in the map). (Photo via Library of Congress)

This bronze bull head and the nearby bronze ram head located along the wall of the Children's Museum parking lot were originally on the North Side Market House, also known as the Allegheny Market House. The Market House was in operation from 1863 to 1965. According to the Senator John Heinz History Center, "On the inside of the building the atmosphere was light and airy, with iron columns supporting wooden arches and rafters. It was replaced by an apartment high-rise and Allegheny Center Mall." (Photo via Luke Swank from the Carnegie Museum of Art Collection of Photographs)

These granite statues were two of six (two sets of three figures) that adorned the chateau-style Old Post Office at Smithfield and Fourth Avenues downtown from 1892 to 1966. The work of artist Eugenio Pedon of Washington, the statues' proportions were designed to be viewed from below. The statues were salvaged when the Post Office was demolished, and can be found scattered around the city. (Photo by photographer James McClain via the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs)

This iron fence was once a part of the Fort Wayne Railroad Station, the third railroad station at this site, built in 1907. According to the Detre Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center, "The station, designed by Philadelphia architects Price and McLanahan, was a brick, stone, and terra cotta building in the Dutch Renaissance style and modeled after Butcher’s Hall in the Netherlands." The photo provides a look at the railing when the station was in use. (Photo by John R. Shrader from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development photograph collection)

The Clark Bar was the signature product of the D.L. Clark Company which began in Pittsburgh in 1886 before it purchased a candy and cracker company in a 1911 expansion. While Teaberry Gum was their earlier well-known product, the Clark Bar soon became their best-known candy. The Heinz History Center notes,
"All throughout these years of production, the Clark Company remained at the North Side location it acquired in 1911. As a result, the oversized Clark sign atop the factory became a longstanding Pittsburgh landmark." The Clark Company was acquired by NECCO in 1999, and the Boyer Candy Company in Altoona, PA began making the Clark Bar in 2021. However, at present, they are only selling the peanut butter cup version of the Clark Bar. (Photo via the D.L. Clark Company Papers and Photographs collection at the Detre Archives in the Senator John Heinz History Center)

At the top of the steps of the Home Plate entrance you'll find this memorial to Barney Dreyfuss, the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900 until his death in 1932. In this image, the memorial is visible in the outfield as Bill Mazeroski rounds third base during his game 7 walk-off homerun during the 1960 World Series. Dreyfuss was instrumental in the creation of the MLB commissioner position and the building of Forbes Field to replace Exposition Park. The Pirates installed this memorial in deep centerfield at Forbes Field in 1934 during their 25th anniversary year.

This marker is in a parking lot between PNC Park (home of the Pirates) and Acrisure Stadium (home to the Steelers and formerly known as Heinz Stadium). The Pirates played at the third iteration of Exposition Park which opened in 1890 and was the site of the first modern World Series in 1903. It was largely built of wood and had seats for 16,000 plus lots of standing room. The last game was played on June 29, 1909 and the Pirates opened Forbes Field (Oakland) on October 16, 1909. (Photo via Detroit Public Library shows Pirate Fred Clarke swinging over home plate)

Forbes Field was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates after their years at Exposition Park in the North Side. It also served as the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pitt Panthers. Opened in 1909, Forbes Field hosted its final Pirates game in June of 1970 and was demolished the following year. Forbes Field was the site of memorable events like the first-ever Steelers game in 1933, and the only inside the park walk-off grand slam in MLB history by Roberto Clemente on July 25, 1956. This photo shows Bill Mazeroski, whose statue also stands at this location, standing in front of this wall section. The statue depicts Mazeroski's home run trot following his World Series-winning 9th inning home run that sailed over this section of the wall during the Pirates victory over the favored New York Yankees on October 13, 1960.

Three Rivers Stadium was the shared home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970 to 2000. The stadium held between 47,942 (baseball) and 59,000 (football) seats and hosted the first World Series game played at night. It was demolished via controlled explosions in February of 2001, however, the pylon from Gate D was preserved. It stands as a reminder of the site of some of Pittsburgh sports' most cherished memories, such as Roberto Clemente's final and 3,000th hit before his death in 1972, and Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" on December 23, 1972. (Photo courtesy of Jason Shaffer and likely taken on June 6, 1992)

The Manchester Bridge replaced the old Union Bridge as Pittsburgh's connection to the North Side. Opened in 1915, its notable relief sculptures were salvaged before it was demolished in 1970 when the Fort Duquesne Bridge became the new North Side connector. Intended for reuse, they were eventually placed into storage with the Steelers before one was refurbished and is now displayed here. The other remains in outdoor storage not far from this location. (photo via Library of Congress)

The Manchester Bridge replaced the old Union Bridge as Pittsburgh's connection to the North Side. Opened in 1915, it was demolished in 1970 when the Fort Duquesne Bridge became the new North Side connector. The original northern steel-reinforced pier supports were left standing and were eventually incorporated into the arch that umbrellas the Fred Rogers statue at this location. The photo provides a good comparison look to help you identify which are the original stones in the current observation deck structure. (Photo via the Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection via the University of Pittsburgh)

You'll find the small rectangular bronze plaque marking the high water line on the side of the old Joseph Horne building facing Penn Avenue. Flooding began on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1936 thanks to snowmelt and lengthy rain. The water rose until it peaked on March 18 at 46 feet. Three dozen people were killed, hundreds injured, and damages were estimated between $150 and $200 million. There are several high water line markers throughout the downtown region. In this photo taken by Walter J. Teskey three days after the flood waters crested, you can see how high the water came on this very wall from the shading, thus determining the height to place the bronze marker you see now. You'll also notice a line on the wall marking the water height to the left of the water shadow. This was done by the photographer in ink to mark the height. (Photo via the University of PIttsburgh Walter J. Teskey photo collection)

"Meet me under the Kaufmann's Clock." Originally known as J. Kaufmann and Brother when it began in the South Side in 1871, Kaufmann's Department Store became the premier shopping experience in downtown Pittsburgh after it moved to Smithfield Street in 1877-1878, where it remained in operation until 2006. In the late 1800s, a four-faced clock was erected on a pole at the corner of Smithfield and Fifth Avenue. It is said there was a sign on the clock which said "Meet me under the clock." (There is a photo in the map of this original clock and what indeed appears to be a gentleman waiting underneath it for someone he is meeting) When renovations resulted in the removal of the clock, public outcry resulted in the current clock being installed on the side of the store in 1913, where it has resided ever since. This photo was taken between 1945 and 1950 and comes via the Kaufmann's Company Photographs at the Detre Archives in the Senator John Heinz History Center.

The flooring inside Target at this location is partially the original art-deco tiling from the Kaufmann's Department Store circa the 1930s, as shown in this photo of the cosmetics department taken around 1930. Originally known as J. Kaufmann and Brother when it began in the South Side in 1871, Kaufmann's Department Store became the premier shopping experience in downtown Pittsburgh after it moved to Smithfield Street in 1877-1878, where it remained in operation until 2006. (Photo via the Kaufmann's Department Store Photographic Collection at the Detre Archives in the Senator John Heinz History Center)

The Frick Building was erected in 1902 prior to the Grant Street hump cut which took place in 1912. Prior to the cut, the Frick Building entrance was actually where its current second floor is. The entrance used today was its basement. Grant Street was leveled in order to ease transportation and development issues.  According to the University of Pittsburgh, coal magnate H. C. Frick and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie "feuded after splitting as business partners and so Frick had his building built taller in order to cast Carnegie's in constant shadow. At the time of its construction, Henry Clay Frick's personal shower on the nineteenth floor of the Frick Building was the highest shower in use." The picture shows the building following the cut and marks the original grade via a drawn line. You'll find the street level marker at the corner of Grant and Fifth on the side of the building facing Fifth Avenue. (Photo via the University of Pittsburgh's City Photographer Collection)

Originally a streetcar barn for the Duquesne Tractor Company, Duquesne Gardens was constructed in 1890, remodeled in 1896 and opened for public ice skating in 1899 with over 25,000 square feet of ice surface. It was a theater venue and home to the Pittsburgh Hornets hockey team from 1936 to 1956.  When the building was demolished in 1956 for construction of the Park Apartment Building and Stouffer's Restaurant, a section of brick wall was preserved and served as a wall in Stouffer's dining room. Stouffer's was eventually replaced with Duranti's. When Duranti's closed in 2008, the bricks were salvaged and you can see a section of them in the club level seats near this marker. (Photo via the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs)

The Wabash Bridge was a cantilever railroad bridge 1,504 feet long with a deck height of 46 feet above river level. It was built by the Wabash Pittsburg Terminal Railroad and spanned the Monongahela River here from 1904-1948. Prior to its completion, it collapsed in 1903 which delayed construction. Across the river, the South Side pier of this bridge still stands as well. Both are currently for sale. (Photo via the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs)